Lisbon Earthquake

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.3.00: Portuguese Writing and Culture, 700-present.
Vol. editors: Stuart Green (University of Leeds), Duncan Wheeler (University of Leeds)

Domains

Earthquake

Dates

Date of occurrence 1755-11-01

Places

Portugal (Location)

Resources

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Modern science tells us that “The Great Lisbon Earthquake” actually occurred in the Atlantic Ocean with an epicenter about 200km WSW of Cape St. Vincent but at the time what most people knew was only that one of the largest (pop. Over 250,000) and loveliest cities in Europe had been largely destroyed. The cause of the destruction was partly the initial violence of the quake, then the tsunami which struck many places along the Algarve coast and the Tagus estuary, and then the subsequent fire which burned for five days. The effect was almost biblical and seemed to some to rebut all the hopes of Enlightened philosophers that the improvement of mankind would lead to an ameliorating history.

The quake is now thought to have been around 9 on the Richter scale. It also caused extensive

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191 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Lisbon Earthquake". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 September 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1588, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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